Crime in your hood: Where burglars and car thieves live and work in the Hills

A SUBURB-by-suburb breakdown of region crime stats shows burglars like Carlingford, while car thieves head for Quakers Hill. Hornsby was the vandalism capital. See how your suburb rates with our INTERACTIVE MAPS.

Carlingford had the most break-ins in the Hills between 2011 and 2017.

CARLINGFORD, Baulkham Hills and Castle Hill head the list of northern region suburbs targeted by burglars over the past six years, despite break-ins recently dropping to their lowest level in 15 years.

Exclusive data released to Newslocal by the NSW Bureau of Crime statistics and Research (BOCSAR) shows that the three suburbs recorded almost 2100 break-ins between 2011 and 2017. Top of the list was Carlingford with 716, followed by Baulkham Hills (689) and Castle Hill (674).

The BOCSAR data reveals suburbs where alleged offenders or persons of interest (POIs) reside. POIs may not have been convicted in court, however they have been proceeded against by the police. The suburbs break and enter POIs called home most often during the period were: Waterloo, Redfern, Macquarie Fields, Airds and Bidwill.

In the Hills, Riverstone was home to the most burglary suspects, with 46 followed by Quakers Hill 43 and Carlingford 38. Top of the list in the Hornsby Council area was Pennant Hills with 20.

CCTV footage from a home captures the moment a thief tries to steal a car.

Professor Rick Sarre.

There were more than a thousand break-ins to dwellings in each of Blacktown, Liverpool, Parramatta and Strathfield but none of these places ranked in the top 20 home suburbs for offenders or suspects.

Affluent suburbs in Sydney’s east or north shore had much lower burglary rates: in the same period Middle Cove in the north and Watsons Bay in the east each recorded fewer than 20 break-ins. Among the most secure suburbs in the Hills/Hornsby region were Mt Kuring-gai (12 burglaries) and Box Hill (17).

BREAK-INS 2011 TO MARCH 2017 MAP:

Former Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology president Professor Rick Sarre of the University of SA said the decline in property crime was not spread equally.

“We know criminals target homes that don’t have security alarms but that means the rich can get protection and the poor don’t,” Prof Sarre said.

Burglaries are highest in Carlingford since 2011.

Car thefts followed a similar pattern where some western Sydney suburbs saw hundreds of cars nicked, many of them Holden Commodores. Stealing from cars was also a western Sydney specialty with some places suffering more than a thousand thefts in the six years to March 2017.

The top suburbs cars were pinched from were Bankstown, Blacktown, Liverpool, Penrith, Auburn and Greenacre. The top suburbs for car thief POIs were Marrickville, Blacktown, Glebe, Guildford, and Whalan.

Police from The Hills fixing tamper-free antitheft screws to numberplates last year.

In this region Quakers Hill recorded the most car thefts with 204 followed by Castle Hill on 201 and Riverstone 192. Hornsby had 135 vehicles stolen.

Half of all cars are stolen from a home, and Holden Commodores made up five of the top 10 most stolen car models according to the national motor vehicle theft reduction council.

Three quarters of car thefts are short term and used for transport, joy-riding or committing other crimes, the council reported.

Prof Sarre said car thefts were down about 75 per cent over the past 20 years as the only way to steal a car these days was to break into a home to the steal keys.

CAR THEFT 2011 TO MARCH 2017 MAP:

“While immobilisers are typically built into cars after 2001, they offer no protection if a thief has access to your keys,” Prof Sarre said.

The most common crimes reported to NSW Police between 2011 and March 2017 were malicious damage (vandalism), stealing from cars and fraud.

Stolen garden gnomes and ornaments being chaperoned at Riverstone Police Station.

The top Sydney suburbs for vandalism reports were: Blacktown, Sydney, Penrith, Parramatta and Campbelltown, while the top suburbs that vandal POIs called home were: Blacktown, Surry Hills, Doonside, Macquarie Fields and Liverpool.

Hornsby topped the list of vandalised suburbs in the northern region with 1298 offences in the period. Quakers Hill was second on 1252.

Veterans were devastated when thieves stole plaques from the war memorial at the Centenary of Anzac Reserve at Wrights Rd.

The top Sydney suburbs where thieves broke into cars were: Blacktown (2575 reports), Liverpool (2395), Surry Hills (1975), Bankstown (1792), Campbelltown (1526) and Mount Druitt (1495).

In the same period the top Sydney suburbs where POIs that steal from cars lived were: Waterloo, Redfern, Marrickville, Surry Hills and West Pymble.

Shoplifting reports between 2011 and March 2017 centred around large shopping complexes in Sydney, Parramatta, Blacktown, Liverpool, Bondi Junction.

The most POIs for this crime were living in Surry Hills (710), Blacktown (637), Redfern (598), Macquarie Fields (524), and Waterloo (524).

MALICIOUS DAMAGE 2011 TO MARCH 2017 MAP:

Criminologist and Senior Lecturer at Sydney University Dr Garner Clancey said criminals “generally” stay close to home and hit targets they know when doing their worst.

“The journey to crime data suggests offenders travel quite short distances, only a couple of kilometres and tend to offend in areas they know because they have an understanding of likely chances to be caught,” Dr Clancey said.

The BOCSAR data attributes some POIs to suburbs if they were living in local jails, so the numbers for areas such as Silverwater and Goulburn are inflated and excluded from the above analysis.